Gentle Golden Retriever Gives Little Stranded Animal A Ride Back To Shore
This summer brought on some high temperatures, so Lauren Lynde and her husband took their dog Wally to the nearby shore to cool off. The 2-year-old golden retriever loves swimming, so the family went to one of the islands in Hickory Hills Lake in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.
Wally loves water, and it's very hard to get him out. "Usually, we throw him sticks or his ball to chase, but he'll also just swim around in circles by himself, which is really funny," Lynde says. "And he's got a little shark life vest that he wears."
This time, the adorable dog found a swim buddy...
Wally was swimming around the family’s canoe when Lynde spotted something near him. At first, she thought it was a stick or an otter, but then it hopped onto Wally’s back. It turned out that the “stick” was actually a woodchuck.
"My husband and I could not believe it," Lynde told the reporters. "We were watching this transpire, and Wally just looked at the woodchuck, started swimming back to shore, and the woodchuck hopped onto his back. Wally did not care at all. He just looked over his shoulder a couple of times and kept swimming."
Lynde can't say why the woodchuck was in the water—perhaps the animal just needed to cool off.
Besides swimming, Wally also loves making new friends. The woodchuck couldn't have made a better choice for a ride back home. "He loves every animal he encounters," Lynde said. "He especially loves little kids and will give them a kiss right on the face when he sees them. He's the sweetest dog ever and gets along with everybody."
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The woodchuck appeared to be grateful for the ride and thanked Wally once they reached the shore.
“He hopped off Wally’s back a little before they got to shore, and they looked at each other and touched their snouts together, kind of like a goodbye,” Lynde says. “The woodchuck ran up on shore, they gave one last little look at each other, and he scurried away while Wally went right back to swimming.”
“I honestly couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was dumbfounded.”
Groundhogs are generally very shy, but there was probably something about Wally that made the wild animal trust him.
"I think Wally just exudes goodness, and maybe everyone can sense it," Lynde says, "even the animals."
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